Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications (hereinafter referred to as “Kokai”) S61-272236 and S61-272238 disclose a silicon-containing polymer that contains units represented by the following formula:O3/2Si—CH2CH2—C6H4—CH2CH2—SiO3/2,and units represented by the following formulae:SiO4/2,R′SiO3/2, or R′2SiO2/2 (wherein R′ designates a methyl or ethyl group). And Kokai H11-217442 discloses a silicon-containing polymer with repeating units represented by the following formula:—CH2CH2—C6H4—CH2CH2—Si(CH3)2[OSi(CH3)]y—.
However, a silicon-containing polymer that is composed of units represented by the following general formula:(O2/2SiR1-R2—C6H4—R2—SiR1O2/2)(wherein R1 designates identical or different, substituted or unsubstituted monovalent hydrocarbon groups, and R2 designates identical or different, substituted or unsubstituted alkylene groups) and units represented by the following general formula:[R3aSiO(4-a)/2](wherein R3 designates substituted or unsubstituted monovalent hydrocarbon groups, and “a” is a positive number that satisfies the following condition: 0≦a≦3) is unknown. And a curable polymer composition that has the aforementioned silicon-containing polymer as the main component is also unknown.
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel silicon-containing polymer composed of units represented by the following general formula:(O2/2SiR1-R2—C6H4—R2—SiR1O2/2)(wherein R1 designates identical or different, substituted or unsubstituted monovalent hydrocarbon groups, and R2 designates identical or different, substituted or unsubstituted alkylene groups) and units represented by the following general formula:[R3aSiO(4-a)/2](wherein R3 designates substituted or unsubstituted monovalent hydrocarbon groups, and “a” is a positive number that satisfies the following condition: 0≦a≦3).
It is another object of the invention to provide a method of manufacturing the aforementioned silicon-containing polymer, and a curable polymer composition where the aforementioned silicon-containing polymer is used as the main component.